The Howling of Sheep
by Magi Silverwolf
Summary: Lily Evans came online suddenly and violently to protect the boy from the bushes. He was hers to protect, even more so than her family and, ugh, sister. She definitely didn't like the sound of a place where the rules didn't seem like they would matter. Luckily, her boy had a plan. (Hogwarts fill; LoM)


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.

 **Warnings:** This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers.

 **Series Information** : _The Light of Mankind_ series is a Marvel Cinematic Universe & Harry Potter crossover. It is also a Sentinel & Guide fusion. Certain things have been shifted around to accommodate these two things. Things are also shifted to include information from related media for the crossed canons. As a general rule of thumb, assume my presented information is deliberate and not the result of confused mistakes, even when different from base canon.

The parts of this series are not designed to be read alone. References will be made to other parts, some of which may be published out of order. For the latest order, please see the series section on my profile. This series name is _The Light of Mankind_.

 **Summary (** _ **The Howling of Sheep**_ **)** : Lily Evans came online suddenly and violently to protect the boy from the bushes. He was hers to protect, even more so than her family and, ugh, sister. She definitely didn't like the sound of a place where the rules didn't seem like they would matter. Luckily, her boy had a plan.

 **Song Recommendation(s):** "Cry Wolf" by Bebe Rexha

 **Author's Note with Competition Data:**  
 **Hogwarts House** : Gryffindor  
 **Subject [Task No.]** : Magic around the World [Use or adoption of a school uniform which changes colors based upon conduct]  
 **Prompt[s]** : AU (Alternative History)  
 **Word Count** : 2997 (Story); 4092 (Post-Competition Edit)

-= LP =-

The Howling of Sheep

-= LP =-

"No one believes he is an idiot until the consequences of his actions prove it. Then hindsight rubs it in."

– Richelle E. Goodrich, _Slaying Dragons_

-= LP =-

Lily didn't remember much about coming online as a Sentinel. It was a blur of action and rage in her memory. She understood what she was told about what had happened, even if it horrified her more than a little bit to be told that she had awakened feral and had hospitalized three people. She had never considered herself particularly violent. She yelled when she got angry, but she didn't have Petunia's habit of hitting or throwing things when she's upset. But waking up wrapped about Severus' bruised form explained a lot about how it had all happened. No Sentinel, not even a latent one far from adulthood, would allow a child to be hurt.

Her parents were thrilled to have a child present as one of the Sensitive. Sentinels and Guides were both highly prized as family members, at least by most people. Petunia hated everything about Lily being a Sentinel—particularly with Severus moving in with their family in the wake of it all. To Petunia, Severus' addition to their family was as unwelcome as Lily being so obviously _not normal_. Lily was never certain where Petunia got the idea that Sentinels should be male (and Guides female), but Petunia was never quiet about her beliefs. Petunia went out of her way to let Severus know how _unnatural_ it was for Lily to be so protective over a mundane, overlooking the magic that had been the basis of their friendship before the incident that brought Lily online.

The doctors had explained how Lily was young to be coming online while she still in the hospital, but attending classes with adults made that point clear. Most of that first training class were in uni or in established careers before something triggered them to come online as Protectors of the People. All of them seemed so much bigger than her as well, seeing how Lily had always been kind of small for her age. No matter what Petunia thought, the other Sentinels were not all men either. There were plenty of women and gender didn't seem to matter when it came to the jostling to establish a hierarchy within their class. Only Lily stood out due to her age; not that there was a problem with being eight. In fact, being so young was a boon in mastering her senses where the grownups were several years out of practice using their imaginations.

The other Sentinels had originally refused to consider her a challenge for a higher position than bottommost rung.

Severus had suggested that the other Sentinels probably thought that she was too little to take them on successfully. Normally, the suggestion that she was weaker than everyone else would have her ready to fight, regardless of who, but this was Severus, so Lily let it slide. Lily was fine staying out the hierarchical fights, despite her growing frustration with their dismissal of her. Fighting made Severus get a bitter-sharp taste to him, which made every one of her protective instincts scream at her.

Severus wasn't even a latent Guide, but he was good at fulfilling the duties of one for her, which was great since she couldn't stand any of the Guides assigned to her training class. He had a knack for reading people's body language—a byproduct of growing up with Tobias Snape, who would live in Cokeworth infamy as the man who beat his wife and son to the point that a latent Sentinel in prepubescence came online just to defend them. Severus was _hers_ , despite not being her Guide, and so he was always capable of bringing her back from the edge of a zone. What the two of them had was good enough for her, even if it wasn't the norm and maybe someday she'd want an actual Guide for her pack.

It should have been good enough for the other Sentinels. They should have stayed out of her business, just like she was staying out of their petty little jockeying. They wouldn't matter to each other for long; they were only going to be interacting for the duration of the basic training to control their senses.

Honestly, what followed could have been avoided if the muscle-bound meathead who had ended up as the Alpha in their class' hierarchy hadn't tried to intimidate Severus into abandoning the classroom. He could have kept his position and the respect of the other Sentinels. Severus didn't like fighting, so Lily was perfectly willing to let the side-whispers go.

But no one scared her Severus.

Lily wasn't feral this time. She was enraged; she was territorial; she was possessive. But her mind was definitely still intact as she used everything she'd learned over her years of signing up for every free class offered at the community center and every random book pull at the library. Lily knew that the Alpha should probably outclass her in every way. She barely came up to his waist and he was built like a rugby player. He was an adult, and she was just a smaller-than-average child. Her only chance at all was to out-think him. He looked mean, but Lily had already faced meaner people for Severus.

This man was _nothing_.

Later, as people tried to figure out how the smallest Sentinel in the class had put the most Alpha Sentinel that the region had produced in fifty years in the hospital, Severus could only stare at his best friend in unrestrained awe. He wondered if this was what love felt like, and decided that it didn't matter because as long as there was still breath in him, he would stay by Lily's side.

 _Always._

-= LP =-

"I'm sorry," Lily said, speaking for the first time since the headmaster had entered the Evans' house. Something about the man set her teeth on edge, no matter how mundane he was. Lily didn't like having Dumbledore around her family. It wasn't the fact that he was magical. Severus had made sure that she knew the feel of magic and how to adapt her senses to compensate. Maybe it was the presumptuous way he had tried to dominate _her_ space since the moment he had arrived or how he stank of secrets and lies. "I'm sorry, but could you please explain more about how these uniforms work?"

Her parents looked worried at her even tone. Daddy probably had more issues with the lack of honorific, to be honest. Not because he was a stickler for it or anything, but more because Lily was and leaving off one communicated how close Lily was to picking yet another fight. She saw that he shot a look at Severus, who had sequestered himself in the far corner from Dumbledore's seat on the couch. Lily wholeheartedly approved of Severus' paranoid positioning. It put her between him and the obvious threat. Severus shifted his hand to touch the bandoleer full of vials he wore around the wrist of his off-hand, petting the leather enough to generate a sound only a Sentinel could hear. Lily refocused on the irritating man, trusting that Severus would have her back as always.

"It's complex, my dear," Dumbledore replied. His tone implied that there was no possible way for her to understand it. Lily was used to that tone, having heard a version of it in every training class she had been in for the last three years until she managed to take the Alpha position. (She was starting to think that the local Sentinel & Guide Center was deliberately demanding she continue advancing her training just so that she would teach the more primitive Sentinels to be less dependent on their hindbrains.) She was not _lesser_ for being younger or smaller and eventually, she would make the world see that. For now, she would tolerate idiots of all sorts thinking so unless properly provoked.

She wouldn't tolerate it in her own home.

"Tell me anyway," she countered, just barely managing to not rise to the bait. As headmaster, Dumbledore was not representing his school well, even before this potential issue with the uniforms. As a fully online Sentinel, she wasn't sure she would be able to stand being in his presence for months on end. "Don't focus on the magic if that makes you uncomfortable. Focus on the things that will make it change colors."

"Well, the hems and badge on the robes change upon the Sorting," Dumbledore said. His blue eyes twinkled like he was amused by something she had said. Lily continued to stare at him blandly. "And no, my dear, I cannot tell you how that will happen. Tradition, I'm afraid. I'm sure you understand." Lily didn't, because that sounded like an excuse to terrorize the incoming students, but she decided to say nothing. She did raise a single eyebrow in silent demand that he continue. Off in his corner behind her, Severus gave the huffing cough which meant he was covering up a laugh. "The interior lining changes hue based upon the student's academic and moral conduct."

"That is exactly what I wish to be clarified." Lily crossed her arms so that she could politely wrap her hands around something in lieu of giving into the urge to strangle the old man. The man didn't strike her as another Sensitive, but Severus had shown her enough of his birth mother's library for her to understand that a wizard didn't need that particular edge to be a threat. Her mother had also taught her that political acumen could be just as dangerous as any physical threat. Either Dumbledore was powerful enough that a fully trained Sentinel wasn't a threat, or he was confident enough in his political arena that he had nothing to fear from the Center. "How does that work exactly? Are there measures in place to ensure fairness? What is the academic code of conduct? What is the moral code? What happens if violations are discovered? Or corruptions?"

"I assure you, my dear, that the system is beyond corruption and is completely fair. Everyone is held to the same standards. There is to be no cheating and as we must maintain a certain reputation, grades must remain above a certain level. There is to be no fighting, for any reason, and no dark magic. Violations are reason for immediate expulsion from the school."

"And if there are extenuating circumstances? What happens then?"

"Allowances can be made," Dumbledore said, as if the information was reassuring instead of worrisome. It was true that Sentinel territorial disputes were common place at any location that forced them to interact, so knowing that she wasn't going to be expelled for the first one was reassuring, but it didn't work if the notification meant _nothing_ but a potential abuse of power in the first place. "The Head of the individual's House will meet with the violator prior to the processing of any expulsion, to see if there are any, as you say, _extenuating circumstances_. If any are found, they have the ability to tweak the spell to reverse the color change."

"And if they decide to abuse this ability?"

"I assure you that would never happen, my dear—"

"Please do not call me that," Lily interrupted with a growling tone. Her parents shifted at the sound of it. Her parents were latent, but they were both sensitive enough that they were responding to her impatience leaking through the pack bond. This entire interview was getting out of hand and the urge to defend her territory was only getting stronger. Her instincts had been screaming about the threat Dumbledore posed since he had arrived and now it was beginning to overwhelm her. "You have no right, and it's creepy." She heard Severus' hand brush against the leather of his bandoleer again and forced herself to take a deep breath. He tapped a nail against a vial three times, an indication that he had enough information to decide. Her breath caught for a moment before he communicated his decision. She took another breath, before passing along the decision to Dumbledore. "We're not going. There's too many issues and frankly, I don't think your school has the right environment for us."

"And what if young Severus wished to attend even without you? You haven't allowed him to say a single word this entire visit. Isn't it just a little domineering to make decisions for your friend without talking to him?"

"I have no complaint about Lily speaking for me, sir," Severus spoke up from his corner. He tapped out their code warning of his intent to say or do something he knew would upset her. She tilted her head to the side slightly, letting her friend know that she understood. With practiced movements that generated no sound, even to her enhanced hearing, he came alongside her. Lily's shoulders tensed at having her Severus so close to a threat, even with the forewarning, but she appreciated the support. "Thank you for the concern, but I agree that your school will probably not be the right choice for us."

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans," Dumbledore said, addressing Lily's parents for the first time since he had arrived to invite the two children to attend the alleged finest school in all of Europe. Lily didn't like the mindset that indicated, nor the fact that he was apparently appealing to authority figures now that they had both declared their intention to not attend Hogwarts at all. Especially since their entire family had known this invitation was coming for years and her parents had already said that it was up to them if they wanted to go or find some other way of learning. "Surely, you do not condone such blatant rudeness and disrespect? Especially of their future headmaster? Perhaps I should let you have a few moments to explain to the situation to the children?"

"I apologize, Mr. Dumbledore," Mum stated as she stood from her rocker. She gave him the weak smile she usually reserved for particular condescending officials from the Center as she brushed non-existent dust from her skirt. "I hate to think you came all this way from Scotland for nothing, but I guess the situation is what it is. My children do not wish to attend your school. I am disinclined to force them. _I'm sure you understand_."

Lily stared at her quietly-pissed mother as Severus made his huff-cough sound beside her. She hadn't realized how annoying the man would have been to her parents, particularly her socially adept mother who understood all the headmaster's unspoken slights to two 'muggles'. Marigold Evans was not a woman to be trifled with, perfectly capable of bringing order to the unruliest of committees and getting things done with extremely limited resources without resorting to rudeness. If she had ever come online, her Guide abilities would have been just as formidable.

"I'm afraid there are things about the situation which you are not aware, Mrs. Evans. They cannot simply not attend Hogwarts. Every magical child must either attend Hogwarts or have alternative magical education arranged by their magical guardian."

"Then that is what we will do," Daddy agreed from his armchair. He was glaring at Dumbledore over his folded hands. "A boarding school isolated in another country was not ideal anyway. They both have classes at the Center to think about."

Daddy's tone implied that the case was closed, which it really should have been, since they had been preparing for a long while now thanks to Eileen's warning when they took in Severus. There was a day school for magic in Brooklyn, near that borough's Center. The North American Sensitive Council had offered relocation funds within days of Lily coming online, because they had been monitoring Daddy's family ever since his aunt's son had died. (Severus had only rolled his eyes at finding out that Lily was distantly related to _Sentinel of Liberty_ , muttering something about it explaining a lot. He was charming like that.) They would probably be more than happy to do so again if Daddy went to them with the plan to accept …and maybe apologize for the language he used when refusing them last time.

"I'm afraid you misunderstand, Mr. Evans. Neither child currently has a magical guardian. If young Severus was still with his real mother—" Severus' fist clenched tight enough at that phrasing for Lily to hear the flesh groan in protest, not that anyone else could hear it or the minute catch in Mum's breath. Lily did not stop her lip from curling in a silent snarl. "—then he would be free to do what you are suggesting, due to his mother's heritage. But Lily would still be forced to attend."

"And if we categorically refuse to send them to your school?" Daddy asked dangerously. Dumbledore gave him a sorrowful look that none of them believed for a moment. As if sensing Lily's decaying restraint, Severus wrapped a hand around her wrist. He stroked his thumb over her pulse before tapping it. Obediently, she deliberately relaxed her stance and let each of her senses center on him briefly.

"If they fail to arrive on September first without properly arranged alternatives, the Ministry will have no choice but to remove them both from your care for the protection of themselves and those around them. A _geas_ would be placed upon you, your wife, and your other daughter to prevent you from sharing any knowledge of the magical world or entering any space dedicated to the magical world."

"You would kidnap my children?" Mum demanded. "Just because we wanted to arrange tutors or for them to go abroad to one of the other schools? Just because we wanted any alternative than sending them to a school that doesn't fulfill their individual needs? What kind of monster are you?"

"I know that it seems unkind, but you must understand leaving magical children untrained in the muggle world is simply too much of a risk to allow. It's for the Greater Good that they both be trained properly. It's a matter of public policy. My hands are tied."

"Are you not listening? We are not planning to leave them untrained! We simply do not wish for their other training needs to go unfulfilled," Mum said, before Daddy could do more than straighten in his seat. She had managed to drop the accusation out of her voice. Lily could never manage that when she tried. "If you truly have information on my Lily like you claim, then you have to know that she has special needs. My daughter is a Sentinel, Mr. Dumbledore, and it's _for the Greater Good_ that she keeps up on her training."

"I'm sure young Lily is fully capable of keeping up on her exercises on her own," Dumbledore replied evenly. "Our matron is highly trained and more than competent enough to handle any potential issues stemming from her senses. You cannot say the same for potential magical mishaps. I assure you that there is a reason for this policy, Mrs. Evans. I sympathize with your feelings on the matter, but this truly is for the best."

"Let me see if I'm understanding, sir," Severus said. His tone was solicitous, almost sibilant in its softness, but his gripe was painfully tight on her. His pulse beat out a tempo of excitement. "You want to force people to attend your school, denying them the right to make their own educational choices—to the point of potentially refusing to expel them as your own standards would demand. You play at being Big Brother but are perfectly willing to ignore even the possibility of corruption amongst your own people. And you have _no clue_ why any of that may be a problem."

"That's uncharitable phrasing," Dumbledore protested, "but more or less accurate."

"Oh," Lily muttered as she realized the same thing that Severus had. The confirmation that 'for the Greater Good' would justify not expelling them, even at the expense of their so-called incorruptible system, dawned on her. Severus came up with the best plans because there was no way they didn't win something with this. Either Dumbledore would be forced to expel them, which allowed them to pursue other schools or the staff would have to deal with their oppressive system. "Oh, sign us up, if you still want it."

Dumbledore probably wouldn't have smiled so happily at them if he knew what they were plotting.

-= LP =-

Severus dodged Potter's spell easily. His return fire had the annoying git's hair cycling through neon colors with dizzying speed. Potter sent a pretty purple spell at him, and Severus used a shield to send it into the gathered crowd. There was a popping noise followed by the bleat of a terrified sheep. The duelists flashed their teeth at each other before rapidly exchanging transfiguration hexes that never hit the other one. With the habit of nearly four years, Severus' eyes swept the space, checking first on Lily and then the other members of the _Marauder_ pack (letting Potter name their pack was the most idiotic thing he had ever let Lily do, no matter how much she had laughed over the implications of such a name with their plans for Hogwarts).

Across the Entrance Hall, Lily and Black were similarly engaged in combat, except they had abandoned use of their wands in favor of hand-to-hand combat. It was difficult to judge how serious their battle was, even with the advantage of the pack bond. Both were deeply subsumed by the drive to prove their strength to each other. Severus sent a low-powered tripping hex at Black, just as a reminder of _his_ place lest the overgrown puppy forgot it. The distraction gave Potter the brief opening he needed to sneak a hair-lengthening hex under his guard. Severus snapped back with a jinx typically used to cool beverages for drinking, knowing it would annoy the Guide's sensibilities enough to be the same kind of gnat the growing hair would be to himself. Then his eyes sought out the last of their number.

Remus was seemingly ignoring everyone (friend and crowd alike) as he sat with his Defense text on the topmost step of the main stairwell. Severus noted the slight shimmer of a shield charm that surrounded the werewolf and sent a flash of approval through the pack bond because Lily would have if she wasn't busy with her play-fight with their other Sentinel. Remus returned the approval with a note on the position of the roommate that set the Sensitives of their pack on edge. It took a few spell exchanges (delightfully resulting in more baying sheep) to line up Potter to dodge the hex, but the sight of the boy squealing as he suddenly grew a rat-like tail was worth the effort—if only for the slight grin Remus was aiming towards his book.

"Stop this madness at once," yowled McGonagall as she finally arrived on the scene of their latest battle. She was late as usual, but it didn't matter. All four of combatants had robes with tangerine linings, indicating that they had broken the moral code enough to be expelled for fighting. McGonagall opened her mouth to berate them for the seventy-sixth time since the beginning of term, only to be interrupted by frantic bleating from the transformed students. The Deputy Head's wet eyes would have moved him had she not been so securely wrapped around Dumbledore's finger. Seventy-five times, they had tried to be expelled. Seventy-five times, the Transfiguration professor had reversed the coloring of their uniforms. McGonagall knew what they trying to do—Lily had made _certain_ of it—but every time she followed Dumbledore's order to not expel them. No, the woman would get no sympathy from Severus.

Severus knew this was a petty, childish revenge, but the poetic nature of it spoke to him. Letting the Marauders leave would be the easier option, ending the discord they had wrought upon the school these last few years. They had even made it clear that they would leave as a unit, with no one left behind to act out in revenge. That compromise had not been easy to achieve either, because it meant getting both of the Black heirs out of Walburga's custody, which meant having to involve outsiders in their plan.

It also didn't matter because Dumbledore had refused, and the rest of the staff had agreed.

At this point, Severus didn't care how loud they howled.

They would always be nothing except _sheep_ to him.

-= LP =-

An Ending

-= LP =-


End file.
